TEHRAN – Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani declared on Friday that the United States is trying to push through a security pact with Iraq in order to divide Iraq’s officials as well as its people.

Iraq's cabinet asked for changes to a draft U.S.-Iraqi security agreement Tuesday, once more casting doubt on the document's speedy passage, less than three months before the UN mandate authorizing the presence of American troops in the country is to expire.
“An insistence and pressure by the U.S. to sign this deal is in line with sowing discord between the Iraqi leaders on one hand and the people on the other,” Larijani told Massoud Barzani, the president of Autonomous Kurdish Government in Iraq.
Iran’s top lawmaker added that the United States is seeking to perpetuate its “long-term presence” in the region through the security agreement.
Barzani, who also heads the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), said the “last decision on the issue lies with the Iraqi parliament and we do not accept any pressure (by the U.S.).”
Barzani said the developments in Iraq will proceed according to a “democratic relation set by the constitution.”
In a separate meeting, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the U.S. is not happy with the current situation in Iraq, saying Washington is seeking to create a tension between Iraqis.
Ahmadinejad said the U.S. has proven that it is not committed to its obligations and it even sacrifices its “close friends” whenever it thinks it is in line with its interests.
“For them (Americans) there is no difference between Shia, Sunni and Kurd and their aim is to prevent the formation of a powerful and dignified Iraq so that they can easily continue their plundering (of the country).”
Expediency Council Chairman Hashemi Rafsanjnai also told Barzani that the presence of foreign forces in Iraq has created a “dangerous situation which is causing trouble for all regional countries and nations.”
Referring to ongoing security talks between Iraqi and U.S. officials, Rafsanjani said, “Any deal should guarantee the security of Iraqi people… economically, politically, culturally, and socially.
“And under a pretext of guaranteeing their own security the occupiers should not threaten the security of the Iraqi people and others.”
In their separate meetings with the Iraqi Kurdish leader all the three top-ranking Iranian officials stressed the need to strengthen unity between Iraqi people and officials.